NAME: NFL Y2K PCA
TYPE: Observational, Census
SIZE: 31 observations, 78 variables
DESCRIPTIVE ABSTRACT:
This data set contains performance statistics for National
Football League (NFL) teams for their 2000 regular season.
SOURCES:
www.nfl.com
www.foxsports.com
VARIABLE DESCRIPTIONS:
Dataset nfl2000.dat
All rate variables use the total time of possession, that is
the average time of possession times the number of games, as
the denominator.
Each variable is provided for both the team of interest and
their opponents -- the former will be prefixed by "home"
and the latter will be prefixed by "opp."
Also included in this data set, but not used in the
corresponding paper are longest kickoff return (kolong),
number of points (points), rate of first downs (1rate), and
turnover rate (torate = number of interceptions plus number
of fumble recoveries, divided by time of possession).
Columns Variable Description
1 - 3 initials team initials
5 - 26 team name and location of the team
28 - 29 wins wins
31 - 32 losses losses
34 - 35 homedrives50 drives begun in opponents' territory
37 - 38 homedrives20 drives begun within 20 yards of the goal
40 - 41 oppdrives50 opponents drives begun in team's territory
43 oppdrives20 opponents drives begun within 20 yards of goal
45 homepuntblock punts blocked by team
47 opppuntblock punts team had blocked
49 - 50 hometouch touchdowns scored by team
52 - 53 opptouch touchdowns scored against team
55 - 58 homeyards total yardage gained by offense
60 - 63 oppyards total yardage allowed by defense
65 - 68 hometop time of possession by offense (in minutes)
70 - 73 opptop time of possession by opponents' offense
75 - 76 homefgm field goals made
78 - 79 oppfgm field goals allowed to opponents
81 - 82 homefga field goals attempted
84 - 85 oppfga field goals attempted by opponents
87 - 89 opppuntno punts made by opponents
91 - 94 opppuntave average length of punts made by opponents
96 - 99 opppuntnet average change in field position
during opponents' punts
101 - 102 opppunttb opponents' punts taken for touchbacks
104 - 105 opppunt20 opponents' punts that resulted in the team's
offense beginning within 20 yards of their
own (defensive) goal line
107 - 108 opppuntlong longest opponents' punt
110 - 112 homepuntno punts made by team
114 - 117 homepuntave average length of punts made by team
119 - 122 homepuntnet average change in field position
during team's punts
124 - 125 homepunttb team's punts taken for touchbacks
127 - 128 homepunt20 team's punts that resulted in the opponents'
offense beginning within 20 yards of their
own (defensive) goal line
130 - 131 homepuntlong longest team punt
133 - 135 home1sts first downs obtained by offense
137 - 139 opp1sts first downs allowed by defense
141 - 142 homesacks sacks achieved by team's defense
144 - 145 oppsacks sacks allowed by team's offense
147 - 148 homekos kickoffs made by team
150 - 151 oppkos kickoffs received by team
153 - 156 homekoyds yards gained during kickoff returns
158 - 161 oppkoyds yards allowed to opposition during kickoff returns
163 - 166 homekoave average yards gained during kickoff returns
168 - 171 oppkoave average yards allowed during kickoff returns
173 - 175 homekolong longest kickoff return made by team
177 - 179 oppkolong longest kickoff return allowed by team
181 homekotds kickoffs returned for a touchdown by team
183 oppkotds kickoffs returned for touchdown by opposition
185 - 186 homerets punts returned by team
188 - 189 opprets punts returned by opposition
191 - 192 homefc punts "fair caught" by team
194 - 195 oppfc punts "fair caught" by opposition
197 - 199 homeretyds return yardage on punts by team
201 - 203 oppretyds return yardage on punts by opposition
205 - 208 homeretave average length of punt returns by team
210 - 213 oppretave average length of punt returns by opposition
215 homerettds punts returned by team for a touchdown
217 opprettds punts returned by opponents for a touchdown
219 - 220 homeint interceptions made by team's defense
222 - 223 oppint interceptions made against team's offense
225 - 226 homerecover fumbles recovered by team's defense
228 - 229 opprecover fumbles recovered by opposing defenses
231 - 232 numgames games played by team
234 - 237 opprateyds average number of yards gained
per minute of possession by opponents
239 - 242 homerateyds average number of yards gained
per minute of possession by team
244 - 247 opppuntrate average number of punts
per minute of possession by opponents
249 - 252 homepuntrate average number of punts
per minute of possession by team
254 - 258 oppratetd average number of touchdowns
per minute of possession by opponents
260 - 264 homeratetd average number of touchdowns
per minute of possession by team
266 - 269 winpercent winning percentage
271 - 275 hometorate turnovers obtained by team,
per minute of possession by opponents
277 - 281 opptorate turnovers allowed by team,
per minute of possession
283 - 286 home1rate first downs obtained by team,
per minute of possession
288 - 291 opp1rate first downs allowed by team's defense,
per minute of possession by opposition
293 - 295 homepoints points scored by team
297 - 299 opppoints points scored against team
301 - 303 conference conference to which the team belongs (AFC or NFC)
STORY BEHIND THE DATA:
The dataset is from the 2000 regular season of the National Football
League (NFL). We use principal components techniques to evaluate
team "strength." In some of our analyses, the first two principal
components can be interpreted as measure of "offensive" and "defensive"
strengths, respectively. In other circumstances, the first principal
component compares a team against its opponents.
See the accompanying "Datasets and Stories" article "NFL Y2K PCA" in
the _Journal of Statistics Education_ (Watnik 2001) at
www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v9n3/watnik.html
PEDAGOGICAL NOTES:
This data set is useful for data analysis courses using multivariate
regression techniques or principal components analysis.
SUBMITTED BY:
Mitchell Watnik
Statistical Laboratory
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
watnik@wald.ucdavis.edu
Richard A. Levine
Department of Statistics
University of California
Davis, CA 95616
ralevine@ucdavis.edu